1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to oil filter devices and, more particularly, to oil filter devices mounted on motor vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of oil filtering devices for motor vehicles is known in the prior art. In my prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,024 there is disclosed a magnet assembly or attachment for magnetically collecting metallic particles within an oil filter cartridge. That inventive device includes a pair of magnets supported in a spaced relationship by a carrier which latter is positionable along an exterior of a filter cartridge. The carrier serves an additional function of a heat sink. A shunt couples opposite poles of the magnets together to increase the magnetic flux directed into the filter cartridge to separate and retain metallic particles from the filtered fluid.
An oil lubrication circuit of a motor vehicle includes a variety of components, and such components generally include a cartridge mounting stem for an oil filter cartridge, an oil output channel in the cartridge mounting stem for allowing filtered oil to exit from the oil filter cartridge and circulate in the oil lubrication circuit, and one or more oil input channels, present in the engine for channelling oil from the engine into the oil filter cartridge.
The interior of a conventional oil filter cartridge generally includes a centrally located filtered oil flow space and an array of filter material arrayed circumferentially around the centrally located filtered oil flow space. Inside the conventional oil filter cartridge, oil flows in a diffuse pattern radially from circumferential positions outside the filter material, through the filter material, and into the centrally located filtered oil flow space. It is noted that when the magnet attachment is used for a conventional oil filter cartridge, as disclosed in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,024, only a relatively small portion of the oil flowing through the conventional oil filter cartridge is exposed to strong magnetic fields as the oil flows through the conventional oil filter cartridge. To increase the efficiency of a magnet attachment for an oil filter cartridge for trapping ferro-magnetic particles and thereby separating the ferro-magnetic particles from the flowing oil, it would be desirable if an oil filter cartridge were provided which directs a concentrated flow of oil inside the oil filter cartridge in the vicinity of a magnet attachment.
Other related patents of the present inventor include U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,549 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,000. In this respect, all of U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,024, U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,549, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,000 are incorporated herein by this reference.
In accordance with the teachings of the present inventor""s patents, one or more magnet units are attached to the outside of a cartridge housing, and a hollow cylindrical filter element is housed inside the cartridge housing. In this respect, to optimize the effects of the magnetic fields provided by magnet units on the oil flowing inside the cartridge housing, it would be desirable if substantially all of the oil flowing inside the cartridge housing came under the influence of a magnetic field of at least one of the magnet units.
When oil flows through an oil filter cartridge, the oil follows a circuit in which the oil flows up to, through, and away from a hollow cylindrical filter element. To further optimize the effects of magnetic fields of magnet units on the oil flowing inside the oil filter cartridge, it would be desirable if the oil passed through a pre-filtration magnetic treatment zone, prior to passing through the hollow cylindrical filter element, and then passed through a post-filtration magnetic treatment zone, after passing through the hollow cylindrical filter element.
In certain oil filter cartridges, the internal use of bypass valves is known. More specifically, certain high performance engines are sensitive to filter pressure in the filter element. Oil pressure can build up to excessive levels if the filter element is clogged. If the pressure inside the oil filter cartridge reaches an undesirable high level, the valves allow bypass of filter element to return oil under bypassed pressure to the engine. In this respect, it would be desirable if a magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus were provided that also includes bypass valve units for bypassing a hollow cylindrical filter element in the event that excessive oil pressure builds up inside the oil filter cartridge.
To help prevent the build up of excessive oil pressure inside the oil filter cartridge, and to provide for efficient oil flow inside the oil filter cartridge, it would be desirable if oil flow orifices inside the oil filter cartridge have sufficiently large size to be equal to the size of the orifice from which oil flows out from the oil filter cartridge.
Thus, while the foregoing indicates it to be well known to use magnet units in conjunction with oil filter cartridges, the foregoing does not teach or suggest a magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) directs a concentrated flow of oil inside the oil filter cartridge in the vicinity of a magnet attachment; (2) provides that substantially all of the oil flowing inside the cartridge housing comes under the influence of a magnetic field of at least one magnet unit; (3) provides that oil passes through a pre-filtration magnetic treatment zone, prior to passing through a hollow cylindrical filter element, and then passes through a post-filtration magnetic treatment zone, after passing through the filter element; (4) can include bypass valve units for bypassing a filter element in the event that excessive oil pressure builds up inside the oil filter cartridge; and (5) provides oil flow orifices inside the oil filter cartridge which have sufficiently large size to be equal to the size of an orifice from which oil flows out from the oil filter cartridge. The foregoing desired characteristics are provided by the unique magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.
To achieve the foregoing and other advantages, the present invention, briefly described, generally provides a magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus which includes a cartridge housing which includes a cartridge oil input channel and an outlet channel. The cartridge housing defines a cartridge interior space. A magnet unit is affixed to an outside portion of the cartridge housing, whereby a magnetic field from the magnet unit extends into the cartridge interior space providing an interior magnetic field zone. A hollow cylindrical filter element is employed, and filter positioning means, housed in the cartridge interior space, are provided for supporting and positioning the hollow cylindrical filter element. Oil flow control means are housed in the cartridge interior space and enter the interior magnetic field zone, for directing oil flow to and from the hollow cylindrical filter element. The oil flow control means are positioned with respect to the hollow cylindrical filter element and the interior magnetic field zone such that the interior magnetic field zone is divided into a pre-filtration magnetic treatment zone and a post-filtration magnetic treatment zone.
The filter positioning means include a filter-element-reception well. The outlet channel is internally threaded for attachment to an externally threaded cartridge mounting stem.
With one embodiment, the magnet unit includes a disk-shaped magnet placed on the top of the cartridge housing, and the disk-shaped magnet is coextensive with the entire top surface of the cartridge housing. A magnetic flux concentrator plate is placed on top of the disk-shaped magnet. Retention-rod-reception brackets extend upward from the flux concentrator plate. Retention plates are affixed to side portions of the cartridge housing. A retention rod is threaded through the retention plates and the retention-rod-reception brackets for fixing the disk-shaped magnet and the flux concentrator plate on the cartridge housing.
The oil flow control means are in a form of a dual, concentric flow tube assembly which includes an outer flow control tube and an inner flow control tube. The hollow cylindrical filter element is positioned between the outer flow control tube and the inner flow control tube.
With another embodiment, the magnet unit covers only about one-half of the top of the cartridge housing. The cartridge housing includes first magnet unit mounting brackets. The magnet unit includes a heat sink portion, and cylindrical magnets are contained within the heat sink portion. A magnet concentrator plate is placed on top of the heat sink portion over the cylindrical magnets. Second magnet unit mounting brackets include mounting tabs received in the first magnet unit mounting brackets. A lock bolt is threaded through the second magnet unit mounting brackets and the heat sink portion.
With another embodiment, the outer flow control tube includes a pre-filtration zone passageway, and the inner flow control tube includes a post-filtration zone passageway. The filter positioning means include a top filter cartridge holding channel member and a bottom top filter cartridge holding channel member. The outer flow control tube, the inner flow control tube, and the top filter cartridge holding channel member are supported inside the cartridge housing by means of concentric flow-director-tube-reception gaskets.
With another embodiment, a valve unit mounting bracket is connected to a bottom portion of the bottom top filter cartridge holding channel member. A valve unit mounting plate is positioned next to the valve unit mounting bracket, and a bypass valve unit is connected to the valve unit mounting plate. A valve unit mounting screw is employed for connecting the bypass valve unit to the valve unit mounting plate and the valve unit mounting bracket.
The bypass valve unit includes a bypass valve housing, a bypass entrance channel, and a bypass exit channel in the bypass valve housing. A valving element is located at the bypass entrance channel, and a valving-element tension spring controls operation of the valving element.
The valve unit mounting plate includes four fastener-reception channels for receiving four bypass valve units. Also, four bypass valve units are arrayed at degree intervals around the inner flow control tube.
With another embodiment, the pre-filtration zone passageway is formed by a horizontal tab made from the outer flow control tube, and the post-filtration zone passageway is formed by a horizontal tab made from the inner flow control tube.
With another embodiment, the pre-filtration zone passageway is formed by vertical passageway walls made in the outer flow control tube, and the post-filtration zone passageway is formed by vertical passageway walls made in the inner flow control tube.
With another embodiment, the pre-filtration zone passageway is formed as a first funnel clip orifice, and the post-filtration zone passageway is formed as a second funnel clip orifice.
The first funnel clip orifice is formed in a pre-filtration funnel clip that clips into an opening in the outer flow control tube, and the second funnel clip orifice is formed in a post-filtration funnel clip that clips into an opening in the inner flow control tube.
With another embodiment, a first magnet unit is placed on the outside of the cartridge housing in a first position. The first position is in registration with a first flow orifice in the outer flow control tube, whereby the pre-filtration magnetic treatment zone is situated between the first position and the first flow orifice. A second magnet unit is placed on the outside of the cartridge housing in a second position which is in registration with the inner flow control tube, whereby the post-filtration magnetic treatment zone is situated between the second position and the inner flow control tube.
With another embodiment, the cartridge housing includes a housing bottom lip and further includes a housing mounting plate which has amounting plate lip. A lip-to-lip gasket is placed between the housing bottom lip and the mounting plate lip, and a lip-gasket-lip clamping member clamps the housing bottom lip to the mounting plate lip with the lip-to-lip gasket therebetween.
The above brief description sets forth rather broadly the more important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contributions to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will be for the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining a number of preferred embodiments of the invention in detail, it is understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood, that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus which has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus which is of durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus available to the buying public.
Still yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus which directs a concentrated flow of oil inside the oil filter cartridge in the vicinity of a magnet attachment.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus that provides that substantially all of the oil flowing inside the cartridge housing comes under the influence of a magnetic field of at least one magnet unit.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus which provides that oil passes through a pre-filtration magnetic treatment zone, prior to passing through a hollow cylindrical filter element, and then passes through a post-filtration magnetic treatment zone, after passing through the filter element.
Even another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus that can include bypass valve units for bypassing a filter element in the event that excessive oil pressure builds up inside the oil filter cartridge.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved magnetically enhanced oil filter apparatus which provides oil flow orifices inside the oil filter cartridge which have sufficiently large size to be equal to the size of an orifice from which oil flows out from the oil filter cartridge.
These together with still other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.